


then all at once

by nyoengland



Series: スズカゼ・アクア [1]
Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/M, FE growth jokes, I mean, JP names used, birthright + conquest ending spoilers. no revelation here, completely unrelated but anyone who likes kazura should check out frescomayor on twitter/tumblr, male corrin this time sike, must say i've spent too much of my life on their sites
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 12:50:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14355885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nyoengland/pseuds/nyoengland
Summary: Suzukaze kneels down, a half smile painted on his face as he threads the thin golden string between his fingers.Midoriko's blue pigtails brush against his wrists as Aqua's wedding ring jingles on her chest.Shigure watches his father and younger sister, and silently gives thanks to the Dawn and Dusk Dragons that they have not taken them as well.





	then all at once

**Author's Note:**

> read the tags for the notes oops

“Of course you’d say that, Suzukaze,” Aqua laughs, pushing back a lock of her blue hair as she takes his hands into hers, pulling him deeper into the Nohrian forest. “I doubt that even Prince Marx would hurt you.”

“As far as he - no, the whole army’s considered, I am in a relationship with his younger sister, after all,” Suzukaze replies, blushing a little as he follows her lead. Even though the two of them have lived in Hoshido for almost all their lives, even in the moments between their battles, she seems to be adapting far better to the climate than he is.

He misses Saizou, more often than not. Kagerou, as well, with her bizarre paintings. He wishes he could hear Kazahana and Tsubaki’s rivalry, the sound of naginata and katana clashing, for himself, rather in his memories, occasionally.

But even in the lush fields of Hoshido, in-between the sakura trees which the youngest princess was named for, would not be the same without Aqua’s love.

She wouldn’t smile at him the way she does - nor would she stay mostly by his side even during battle, wear the scent of jasmine on the rare moments they can steal away together. Many times, his fingers have strayed to the small shell of her ear that she always taps her perfume in, holding her warmth close when he can, helping her gently part her own hair in the mornings.

In other words, if Prince Kamui did not continue to stay with his adoptive family, he would not have known her as intimately as he does now. Call him selfish, but he allows himself to forgive, even for just a moment.

“But you did try to hide it as much as you could,” Aqua says, her feet moving in a circular motion as the bashful ninja follows her every movement. “The amount of explaining you had to do for Elfie's sake…”

“Ah, well, she seems more than capable of knocking my head flat with a bread basket if she so wished,” Suzukaze admits, feet tripping over each other as she moves faster and faster, heels barely kissing the loose soil that borders their camp before they move on. “Aqua, I-I am getting slightly dizzy…”

“It’s been a while since you’ve relaxed off the battlefield,” she says, and persists with her free movements, grasping his wrists as he narrowly dodges a tree trunk. “Suzukaze, with all the movement you do on there, I doubt this would make you sick…”

“Well, Kamui _did_ say I was a rather fast-” Suzukaze starts, but Aqua lifts herself on her tiptoes and she is already there, clasping his cheeks close and giving his left one a kiss. “A- _Aqua_!”

She throws him a wink, headdress floating after her as she gathers her blue skirts and skips to the edge of the forest, much like Princess Sakura and Elise would do. Suzukaze’s face falls into an easy smile, one that is almost second nature to him when she enters the room, and follows her, hands suddenly empty of her touch.

“I’ll test _your_ speed growth,” she sings, and hurtles away, Suzukaze carefully left to purloin his instincts and whisk away as a ninja would, finding dips in trunks and branches so that his feet only brush against the ground until he sees her blue hair stream out behind her as if it were water, amber eyes shining in the moon that illuminates Kamui’s castle, until he leaps in front of her and boldly leans forward to kiss her right cheek.

“I do hope your defense growth is better than mine,” he teases, pressing the back of his forearm to her other cheek that’s gone scarlet. “Otherwise, I would have to mar the prettiest face in the army.”

“Goodness, Suzukaze, I know the women love you, but surely you couldn’t hurt yourself?” Aqua presses back, slender fingers clasping over his arm as she presses her face closer to his.

“You _are_ far cleverer than you let on, Aqua,” he says, practically tapping the tip of his nose against hers as he responds. “But if you need clarification on who’s the loveliest, of whom I am the most undeserving of in this army, it is surely my heart that is holding onto my forearm.”

“And you are quizzical as to why you hold the favour of so many women at market,” Aqua winks, the flutter of her eyelashes against his face enough to make his heart beat a little faster. “I think you may figure that out for yourself, Suzukaze.”

“Ah, but these words are reserved only for my heart,” Suzukaze says, and smiles a little, the edges of his mouth curving as he looks into her clear eyes. “No other woman could be more deserving.”

“I am not as deserving as you believe me to be of a person like you,” Aqua says in tandem, twisting her fingers to bring Suzukaze’s hand to her lips as she speaks. “You know the troubles I must bear as a person - yet you stay loyal to me? Coupled with your fabled good looks, as well as kind soul, I am more than reluctant to rest on my laurels. I know that if we were back in Hoshido, my brothers and sisters would approve of you as much as they do here in Nohr.”

“I fear for the protectiveness Kamui feels for you,” Suzukaze admits, tucking his nails into his palm so they do not accidentally injure her. “It is that of a brother, yet with a touch of jealousy every time you deliver me your song instead of his.”

“Well, he is coming out of that dreadful fortress for once, and he is leading an army,” Aqua says. “I do not put it against him to have an issue with the fact that I am seeing a retainer of his. Has he given you a verbal lashing?”  
  
“I remember Kamui calling me to duties almost as soon as we finished dinner at the mess hall,” Suzukaze says, “I think it was after Felicia and Joker finished cleaning the dishes. He must have seen us holding hands underneath the table.”

“That, or he asked Elise to keep an eye on us,” Aqua chuckles, clasping his sole hand inbetween her own. “Dear Kamui - I should probably tell him that we are very happy, thank you very much.”

“I suppose this answers your question as to why I’m so intimidated by your family?” Suzukaze asks, using his free hand to wrap around her waist, pulling her a little closer. “I only have served one of yours, but I owe the other my life, including Kamui.”

“Can you owe your life to your own siblings, then? But still, I must repay you,” Aqua says, and kisses his knuckles again, maintaining eye contact. “You know that I have always felt out of place with them. Yet, with you…”

“Aqua, we are both so far away from home, and without our family members,” Suzukaze says, leaning close so he can kiss her forehead. “You have been there for me as much as I have for you. I do not need anything else, other than you by my side…”

She simply wraps her arms around his neck and agrees, and Suzukaze holds onto the sacred hope that she will be with him, always.

* * *

“Where is she? Your Highness, please-”

“I…I don’t know, we have to re-”

“Prince Marx, I beseech you,” Shigure begs, the small tassels on his outfit swinging as he comes to stand by his father. His sister, Midoriko, is weeping, blue pigtails drooping at the sides of her head as she clings to her older brother. “Where is our mother?”

“Did she r-run away from the b-battle?” Midoriko wails, the sound so desolate and terrible even the crown prince of Nohr crumbles. “Midoriko’s mother would never do that…she would always seek out Father…”

“I…I’ll fetch Suzukaze,” Marx says weakly, thinking of his occasional sparring partner; his friendship that crossed age old boundaries. He is standing faithfully by Kamui’s side, making sure that his liege’s wounds are seen to after the final battle and his near death, but his fingertips are trembling and his eyes are unfocused - clearly looking for his wife.

“Suzukaze,” Marx says, and almost as if he has been shot with an arrow he springs to his feet, face painted with distress.

“Prince Marx,” he replies hurriedly, awash of the usual formality that even after their friendship still reigns true. “I apologise - are my family all right?”  
  
“Your son and daughter are awaiting you,” Marx says sagely, and without invitation Shigure desperately calls his father’s name. The ninja almost disappears, and the next time Marx blinks he is patting his son’s head, another around his daughter’s shoulders. It leaves a sad taste in his mouth; and reminds him of how much he has to strive to improve with Siegbert.

"Are either of you hurt?" Suzukaze repeats, over and over, pulling his precious children close to him, fingers working through their pale blue hair matching Aqua’s.

"No, Father, I sought Midoriko for healing every turn," Shigure affirms, standing tall. Midoriko is pressing her little face into her brother’s stomach. “But Father…do you know where Mother is.”

At this, Suzukaze pauses. He remembers the light of his life. Her last sound of laughter, the way she gently cajoled for him to smile for her one last time, the way her fingers had dissolved into blue, blue, blue, the same blue that adorned their children’s heads.

“Father!” Midoriko cries, holding onto his shoulder as Suzukaze collapses, transparent tears clawing their way on his face as he breathes through his nose. “Father, tell us, please, please…”

“Your mother, she…”

_She promised me. That we would be together always._

“ _NO_!” Shigure howls, lance falling to the floor and his face contracting as Suzukaze barely finishes his sentence, legs giving way and landing him onto his knees. “ _Mother_!”

Midoriko does not speak. She does not move, she simply stands there and lets her tears fall, little drips onto Suzukaze’s knees as she clings to her brother, knuckles white with the tautness of her grip. Only this morning, Aqua was threading her hair into two neat pigtails, tying them into two neat ribbons with a kiss on each one. Only this morning, she had met Suzukaze in the middle with their daughter, Suzukaze just having commenced training with Shigure. Only this morning, she had kissed him and told a story of a house nestled in the mountains between Nohr and Hoshido after the war, thatched roof and _tatami_ and a stable for Shigure’s pegasus.

Only this morning, she was alive.

Suzukaze fishes in his satchel for her wedding ring; the one thing that her cursed pendant had not taken from her. It is simple; he had sworn to himself that he and he alone would pay for it, but the band is worth more than a thousand riches.

“You lied to me,” he says brokenly, raising his head to the sky.


End file.
